So the “Jack” edit by boon23 is my first official complete DVD fanedit package. Others have expressed most of what I liked about it, so I’ll just hit one thing. The choice of perspective — focusing on Jack — makes for a totally different take on both the love-story and the sinking of the ship. Not to mention the relegation of many a solid supporting role into that of walk-on bit-players. In this I think CBB has hit a bases-loaded home-run. Whereas Cameron sold us the Jack & Rose love-story in order to be able to tell us the real love-story (his obsession with the ship), the “Jack” edit sells the viewer a scrappy Saturday-night high-adventure TV story of a young explorer of the the world who happens at the wrong place and wrong time to fall in love with the wrong girl…and paid in full-measure for that love.

It is really quite a strong piece of work, and makes for a perfect 2 hour movie. Very little drags in this version of the story — except perhaps the restored scene where Lovejoy pursues Jack & Rose at Hockley’s urging. That restored sceen could have had a minute trimmed out of it and been just as effective. By focusing half the running time on events during the collision, sinking and death-by-freezing in the water, the CBB “Jack” version of the story mirrors the pacing of the classic “A Night To Remember”, which uses the POV of 2nd officer Lightoller as it’s guideline.

I have to agree with the comment that ironically, in recrafting this manly, heroic, POV the love-story is actually of even greater-importance than before. But in a good way because now there’s more focused action and high-adventure, and the love-story drives everything that happens, rather than only 50% of it. Perhaps a cut to the final scene of Rose by herself claiming Dawson as her name would have been good. (Food for thought: I wonder if an equivalent strictly-imposed “Rose” POV edit would be as interesting. Certainly not as action-packed!)

I thought that technically this DVD was well-assembled. The bonus features were useful to watch first in order to establish what the faneditor was trying for. I was never quite able to get a decent widescreen on my TV that didn’t seem just ever-so-slightly squashed, but that may be me and my equipment. I shall try it again on another setup and see if that doesn’t fix it. My other issue with the film was that it seemed perhaps just a bit too video-compressed and lacking in crispness @ DVD5. Sort of like watching it on VHS. I’d like to see it in dual-layer DVD9 for comparison.

Still, those are minor quibbles. All things considered a very strong fanedit that makes me interested in having a go at a few things in my own DVD library. 10/10 for achieving the faneditor’s stated goals and perhaps 8/10 as a full-fledged DVD experience that would have been quite a delight to have arrive in my Netflix queue!

Thanks.

First, I understand why/where the cuts, edits etc were made. Based on what I know of CBB’s intention for this edit, he made the correct choices to relaize his intnetion. I might have included the “ice berg staright ahead” scene and kept more of the iceberg striking the Titanic. I realize that Jack didn’t personally experience these scenes, but a movie still for the audience watching it and the inclusion of these scenes would have made for a better edit overall. A viewer wants to experience these scenes, even if the main character does not.

Secondly, there is some loss or resonance with many of the scenes because we only see things that contain Jack and then later on, Jack and Rose. again, I am in complete agreeance with CBB’s edit because of his intentions to make this a Jack-centric edit.

I was suorised that I didn’t enjoy this edit as much as i really expected to. technically a great edit, great video/audio quality etc. A perfection execution of the editor’s intention. I didn’t realize how much a great deal of the secondary characters/secondary plot is necessary for this movie. Don’t musunderstand, i had a very dififcult time sitting thru AdigitalMan’s extended version too – just too long and slow in many areas (NOT due to AdigitalMan’s edit – his is flawless – it’s just a long movie and has slow spots as released).

This edit is a very interesting take on Titanic and I was amazed how well the added scenes compensated the lack of Rose-scenes. We get every explanation we need from the scenes with jack and the story has no holes – of course Rose’s character becomes less complex than in the original since we don’t know about all the stuff that’s going on, but on the other hand now the story tells how a “true survivor” had an impact on a person that was unaware of her potential and unaware of the happiness of life – so in a way even though Rose’s arc is reduced a lot of the powerful emotion is still there because of the powerful performances.

It’s until the sinking ship where the editing becomes a little weird and you can clearly hear music passages getting overlaid to avoid rapid audio shifts, still the whole rhythm of a lot of scenes gets lost since this edit focuses solely on Jack and Rose and while I understand that because of that all the other characters are cut down to their interactions with the couple there are a lot of great scenes gone – just outside shots of the people looking at the Titanic, the sad picture of the floating women in the flooded room, the whole scene where the band plays “nearer my god to thee” – it just hurts to know those are gone, still I understand boon’s reasoning for cutting them in order to achieve the edit

the entertainment is still in titanic, it is faster than the original film, there are no plotholes and i had a nice time watching this:

8/10

unfortunately i REALLY REALLY did not enjoy this. as an idea this is executed perfectly and i’m actually surprised i didn’t like it! without the history/perspectives/characters from the original this really highlights how horrible the sets and acting were in titanic. the first 1/2 i’d give this a lowly 3 on entertainment and gradually up to 6 in the finale. The ending cut/fade wasn’t very fulfilling, either.

but i realize from all these great comments that i am in a small minority here, and it got me thinking if i’d even like the OPPOSITE of the jack cut, LOL

CBB (boon23) rules !!!

First off, this cut removes a large amount of the film bringing the running time just over 2hrs. This was a nice change from the 3hr epic I was used to. This cut focuses primarily on Jack Dawson and we only see/learn the plot through his scenes – This worked great for a ‘new perspective’ on the film but there was a great deal of my favorite scenes that were removed.
All are secondary characters who’s scenes/stories do not directly intersect w/ Jack’s —

***SPOILERS***(the ‘present day’ old Rose/salvage crew plot is gone, the crows nest “ICEBERG DEAD AHEAD!” and subsequent bridge scene where the crew attempts to maneuver around the Berg. The scenes with the engineer explaining how the ship will flood and sink) ***END SPOILERS***

— so I understand why they were cut and this version works great w/o them but on a personal level, I missed them only because I felt they were some of the most intriguing/well acted/suspenseful scenes. They were the closest to “Jim Cameron” scenes in the whole film, if you will.

Like the disclaimer states at the end of the edit – If you liked Titanic but felt it was a vaj-fest this edit makes it manlier and more thrilling. However, if you are like me (which you probably arent) and liked the original film – there are alot of great scenes that have been removed.

On the flipside, this edit restores 9 (IIRC) deleted scenes, many I have never seen, and does expand Jacks character and makes him more interesting IMO.

Video: 9/10 minor compression artifacts and noise. being a 2hr film, this would benefit from a DL release

Audio: 9/10 almost seamless – there was a small audio hiccup right after Rose/Jack kiss in the steam room (around 56:00) and another less obvious one at the end as Rose is blowing the whistle (around 1:58:00) maybe just my DVD but I rewound and heard them again so…?

Entertainment: 7/10 Like all the women and less of the men out there, I really liked the original version. I appreciated the trims around the love story to keep it less vaj-tastic but the trims to the rest of the story (while beneficial to Jacks story) irked me because I enjoyed them and truly missed them here.

DVD: 8/10 motion menu, trailers, commentary. overall an nice package.

Final Score (Average): 8/10

There were, however, two things I didn’t like. Firstly, the iceberg comes and goes very swiftly. Without showing the iceberg before hit, or any try for an evading maneuver, one might think this is only some first scrape foreshadowing the real iceberg still in the coming. Not much more would be needed, but something that establishes the threat. Without such, we slide from “no danger” to “we’re sinking” a little too little hassle. The material doesn’t support the way in which the viewer isn’t given clearer hint of the coming doom very well, even if that’s the way it was for the people on the ship. And this, imo, stands still even as there’s probably no single sane person on the planet who wouldn’t know how a story about Titanic would be ending. Otherwise, I thought the “catastrophe aspect” was handled very well. Though they were interesting in the original edition, to tell the central story of Jack & Rose no more was needed to show of the fates of the other passengers and crew.

Finally, the last dining hall chase/shootout between Rose’s fianceé’s bodyguard, what ever his name was, and Jack & Rose… It felt already too repetitive and added nothing new to the stew. What’s more: As the diamond doesn’t matter much in this edit, Old Rose and all being cut, it’s just tad strange to make so much of it in that scene, when its meaning in the plot – to frame Jack of the theft – has already gone. And then its final outcome is left completely unknown, but hinted at. One can suspect it was still in Rose’s pocket when she was saved, but in the story of Jack & Rose it shouldn’t matter. If after the end of the movie the viewer is wondering is the diamond in Rose’s pocket or not, he/she has quite missed the mood.

However, the ending must be addressed – there is none. By fading out at the point of Rose whistling for help in the water, the story stops with no resolution whatsoever. Such an ending may have its merits in art films where ambiguity creatives multiple interpretations of the overall artistic statement, but TITANIC isn’t, never was, and will never be more than a popcorn flick. A better alternative would have been to include the following scene of Rose at the Ellis Island docks, giving her name as ‘Mrs. Rose Dawson’; such an ending brings the story full-circle and still “stays with Jack”, as your say your intention was.

Overall, while the idea is interesting and the attempt is earnest, the end result negates the effort. Having a stopping point rather than an ending destroys the work.

Watched this last week, in good company.

Overall a brilliant piece of editing. The changed perspective really makes for a different movie. Good concept that works all the way. I still had a few issues with it.

The scene where Jack first sees Rose is a good one. But right after this comes her almost-suicide. This feels a bit off to me, he sees her and right after she tries to kill herself. It just feels like a piece of a bad movie script…
I would rather have had it so that Jack meets her for the first time there at the back of the boat. But that scene when he sees her is really good! Arg. Hmm. maybe some other scene could be placed in between these two?

I like your removal of the first kiss! Now it is postponed until after the painting, and it really works well, I thought it was a better first kiss than in the original! The GF was surprised that it was gone though, but not overly annoyed or anything.
But, right after their now first kiss there is a sound that feels out of place as the scene changes. I was jolted out of the movie a little bit, and that was not a good place to be taken out of it, with all those emotions running high. Went back and listened to that noise again…I might have overreacted the first time. But it happened.

And the sinking. It just goes on and on and on. The movie is much shorter now and the sinking takes ages in the original movie, now it’s a really major part of the total playtime. I get bored with it. Panic and despair, yes yes. This is more of an observation on something I would have tried to portray differently, but need not be a bad thing for people in general.

Final grade?
Great concept. Smooth editing of both video and audio (I had no problems with that horn in the beginning).
It works well for plot, but I have a few issues with the dramatic pacing in parts (as commented above).

I’ll go all the way, with a green light from the GF, and give this

5/5

First a little back ground.

In 1958 a classic film was released about the sinking of the Titanic. It was called A Night To Remember and starred Kenneth More and Honor Blackman. The film was a great success in Europe and America and this film set the formula of all subsequent disaster movies by following the experiences of a wide and diverse cast. It has been noted that James Cameron based his vision of the Titanic on the formula set by A Night To Remember but added the new ingredient of a passionate love affair to bind the whole. Many scenes of life aboard Titanic are lifted note for note from the 1958 film.

The Cameron Edit

Titanic is a sprawling yet to some a satisfying epic. It is unabashedly emotionally manipulative yet somehow Cameron succeeds in pulling off one of the greatest contrivances in cinema history and he does it with an extraordinary flourish.

Titanic: The Jack Edit

“…courageous attempt to create a version…bearable for men.”

The Jack Edit is a very entertaining edit, well conceived and executed. It is still very much a James Cameron film but more focused and compact. Staying with Jack works incredibly well, in fact for the first part, until the first Jack-less scene with Rose, it works even better than the original. I really like the first introduction of Rose and her sudden attempt at suicide. It makes her more susceptible to Jack’s charms as she is so emotionally disturbed and confused.

The film follows the love affair between Jack and Rose very closely and each scene blends flawlessly into the next. I can truthfully say I was completely involved in this story and was glad that my attention was never taken away from the lovers. Most of the scenes of other passengers that have been removed are the ones that were borrowed liberally from A Night To Remember and so the fan-editors, maybe unintentionally, have made Titanic more of a James Cameron Film as the story is now solely about Jack and Rose and not a nod to another movie.

Finally the scene arrives that I had most problems with in the original. That of the spurned lover shooting at Jack while the Titanic is sinking. Strangely enough because The Jack Edit focuses on only the love story, the action of the jealous fiance’ seems more plausible and the scene works! Hats off to you!

The Jack Edit follows the original as the climax arrives but eradicates the cheesiness by losing the flashbacks after the sinking.

So did this Fan-Edit work? Yes absolutely but The Jack Edit has failed in the fan-editors claim to make this version more bearable for men because what they have done is created a more overtly romantic film. By concentrating only on the love that burns between Jack and Rose this is now a pure love story with the sinking as a catalyst by which that love is tested. In fact this might be the ultimate version for women because all the scenes that touch the female spirit, such as Jack drawing Rose, making love in the car and ‘flying’ at the bow of the ship are all still present but without the distraction of any others fate. This is not a criticism because The Jack Edit works so well.

I cannot recommend this fan-edit enough and if you are a romantic like me it cannot fail.

Technical Assessment

I noticed only one jarring sound edit in the whole edit. It comes after the ice burg is struck when it cuts to Jack and Rose.

The opening cut from titles to horn sounding is a little ruff and could be smoothed.

The end. The fade-out on Rose blowing the whistle is too quick. If you started the fade-out earlier but allowed the sound to continue so when you hear the line “turn the boat around” you have completed the fade out. It would also add some doubt to Rose’s fate.

I thought it would be nice to see a different take on this story (I admit there were some aspects that I did not enjoys as much as others).

What I saw watching the Jack Edit , was a completely new story. I never though that changing the point of would so drasticly change the experience.

To me Titanic the Jack Edit is whole new movie.

Like say watching to different world war II movies.

I had a blast. it’s really good.

Thanks for this great time I had.

A PIECE OF ART.

i enjoyed it very much.